All the things that I hate about you
by Victine Shadow
Summary: Blue makes a bet with Red that she can patch up Gold and Crys' relationship. Only she didn't bargain for all that trouble...AU  high school
1. Chapter 1

PkMn Spe characters trying to survive in high school - old concept, yes, but it has been swimming around in my mind for some time now...

**Disclaimer:** Vic does not own PkMn. If only she did.

**Warning:** AU, lots of pairing, possible OOC. Sorry!

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><p>"What's that?"<p>

"Essay on the legacy of Klemen Von Metterich," Yellow replied, not taking her eyes off the paper.

"Geez, do you have to do it now?" Blue exclaimed.

"Yes. Otherwise Professor Dragyn will kill me."

"Man, I'm glad I didn't choose to take History. Hey, does anyone around here actually take a break? We're supposed to be having breakfast!"

"I need to get this work done before Saturday," Green said. "I promised I'd go to the excavation site."

"Oh, right. The teacher's pet. Do you guys ever do anything apart from homework?"

"Homework is merely a responsibility and commitment required of anyone who goes to school. Some abide by this, some don't," a dark-haired, dark-eyed teen replied. "Hey Silver, it was the Triple Alliance formed in 1882. The Triple Entente was 1907."

"Dang. I keep getting them mixed up."

Blue glanced at the younger redhead – whom she always thought of as her younger brother – seated at the adjacent table, and sighed. So everyone _was_ doing their homework. Except her and Shadow.

"What are you – oh, hi, Red!"

Blue waved her friend over while basking in inward relief. Finally, someone to talk too. (Shadow, being fairly intelligent and more than just insane, didn't count.)

"Hi, Blue. Have you seen Gold or Crys?" Red asked as he set down his breakfast tray and slipped into his usual spot at their table.

"Nope."

"They fought." Shadow informed them. "And my best bet is that both are avoiding us because they think the other has come over to join us for breakfast."

"What, again?"

"Big one, this time," Shadow rubbed her temples in frustration and sleepiness. "My dear roommate was up until the small hours screaming into her phone. I swear, I'd have shoved a sock into her mouth had I not had both stuffed into my ears."

"Wait a sec, you have only one pair of socks?" Blue tried hard to stifle a giggle.

Shadow scowled. "With a mother like mine, you'd be lucky to even _have_ socks."

"But this is serious," Green remarked, glancing up from his paperwork. "Those two fight all the time. Are you sure they can maintain a decent relationship like that?"

Both Red and Blue frowned as Shadow muttered something along the lines of "it worked for my parents". Finally, Red spoke, "You're right. It isn't. Dysfunctional even, perhaps. But what can we do?"

"Therapy?" Blue suggested.

"That would be psychologically impossible," Shadow interjected. "They wouldn't want anyone to interfere, let alone tell them that their relationship isn't working."

"How do you know?"

"First, I'm a Psychology student. Second, I tried. Which was stupid of me."

Blue smiled. "Well, of course it wouldn't work if you just said it aloud. Professional counselors would know how to handle it."

"And how are we going to get them to see one?"

"Well – " Blue paused momentarily " – we could always try it ourselves."

"You mad?" Shadow gasped as she choked on her toast.

"I bet you couldn't," Red said.

"Bet accepted," Blue replied. "What are the stakes?"

"Hang on – " Red began, about to explain that 'I bet' was merely a figure of speech, but then realised that Blue wouldn't buy that. And what were the odds of impressing her if he chickened out…

"Okay, fine," he conceded. "Let's say, fifty bucks?"

"Fifty!" Blue exclaimed. "That's too – alright, fine then. If that's what you want." She immediately produced a crisp fifty dollar bill and slapped down on the table. "There!"

Green raised an eyebrow at Red. "You don't _have_ fifty dollars."

"Ah, can I borrow fifty from you?"

Green sighed. One always wonders why one's best friend just _has_ to use one as an ATM.

"Hold on. Green," Blue said, "can you keep our money for the while? That way when the bet's over you can give the money straight to the winner."

"Okay." Green heaved another sigh.

"Good," Blue said. "Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks, buddy."

Shadow grabbed her tray, stood up and turned to leave. "Well, good luck with your bet, crazy people. And you'd better try to explain whatever you're trying to do to them," she added, slightly maliciously, gesturing at the two furious figures entering the cafeteria.

"Is that the time? I'm gonna be late for English," Red announced, deciding that it was a good time to leave. "You coming, Green?"

"Hang on – " Blue began.

"Hey, I don't want to be in trouble with Mr. Wake. Never cross a teacher whose favourite pastime is wrestling."

The two boys exited swiftly before Blue even had time to protest. Leaving her facing Gold and Crys. And the fact that both Yellow and Silver, the only other friends of hers left in the cafeteria, were completely engrossed with their essays, really didn't help.

"On second thoughts," she said, thinking aloud, "I'm not going to be late for English. Facing Miss Waterflower under normal circumstances is scary enough. Come on, Yellow. Let's go." She tugged at the younger girl's sleeve.

"Now? But I – oh, I get it," the blonde said quickly and gathered up all the pieces of paper.

"Where the heck is everyone else?" Gold demanded to know as he approached the near-deserted (bar one redhead) table.

"No idea," Silver replied. "I've absolutely no idea."

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><p><strong>AN:** The teachers here are based on Gym Leaders/Elite Four/Champions with subjects assigned to them based on their specialty type. The two mentioned here may just turn up some time later on...

FYI: Klemen Von Metternich (1773-1859) was an Austrian diplomat acclaimed for promoting peace. The Triple Alliance (Germany/Austria-Hungary/Italy) and the Triple Entente (Britain/France/Russia) are seen as one of the main reasons for WWI.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you very much for your review, a random reader. For now it's mostly Mangaquestshipping, but who knows, Luckyshipping may just turn up...

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><p>"Miss Blue, are you even paying attention?"<p>

Blue jerked her head up to see Miss Waterflower looming over her. "Sorry, Miss," she muttered.

"You're far too distracted," the young English teacher frowned. "Really, can't you concentrate?"

Blue scowled and lowered her head. Had it been any other teacher, she'd have protested loudly already; but Misty Waterflower's temper, as Blue had learned the hard way, was not one to be toyed with. She still had no idea how on earth Red could have such respect for the unpredictable, fiery tomboy.

As soon as the teacher's back was turned, Blue went back to her thoughts about 'counselling' Gold and Crys. She'd have to be careful – no doubt about that – and probably a quiet place to talk things over. The first one was easy; finding the second one had the odds of going through an entire day without Miss Waterflower blowing her top.

After class, Blue immediately snagged Yellow and Shadow in the hallway. "Hey guys, do you know any quiet places we can use for the coming few weeks?"

Yellow tilted her head, "What for?" while Shadow said, "I got a few, but they're all off-limits."

"Where?"

"Teachers' rooms."

"Can we get a permit to do that?"

"As far as I know, no."

"Then how'd you get to know about them?"

"Excuse me, but why do we have to find a – a quiet place?" Yellow asked.

"I'll tell you later." Blue waved it off. "By the way, do you have any idea what Miss Spitfire was talking about just now in class?"

Shadow snorted as Yellow began to explain the class connotations of _Wuthering Heights_.

"Misty Waterflower is hardly qualified to be an English teacher anyway," Shadow said suddenly.

"Yeah, well, she sure can't do much besides losing her cool."

"She'd be better off sticking to netball and beach volleyball."

Blue sighed. "I kind of wish we had another teacher."

"What, even Mr. Wake?"

Blue turned to see Red and Green heading towards them. "At least your teacher has a sense of humour! And I bet he isn't grossly prejudiced towards just because he thinks you're a waste of space," she retorted.

"Misty isn't that bad," Red protested. "She can be a lot of fun too. It's just that – what?" He paused abruptly as Green elbowed him.

Green sighed. He had no actual experience, but he could certainly tell when a girl liked a guy or not. And he certainly knew that the last thing a guy should do in front of girl who liked him was to praise another girl. _Especially_ if the second girl wasn't his sister.

"If I can just butt in here," Shadow said, her eyes locking with Green's for a brief moment, "how are you planning to – counsel, if that's the word you're going to use – Gold and Crys?"

"Dunno. Get them to sit down, talk, go over what they've said, maybe offer some advice?"

"Really professional," Shadow remarked sarcastically.

"Um, will they take kindly to that?" Yellow asked.

Blue shrugged. "Worth a shot."

"Or you could simply lose two good friends over a harebrained bet."

Blue suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable. "You don't think…will they really get so mad if – if I mess things up?"

"Well done, Sherlock," Shadow said while Yellow responded, "I'm sure they wouldn't."

"Ahem," Red gently remarked, "we can always call the bet off. In which case you give me the money, and then you won't have to deal with Gold and Crys – "

"What? And concede defeat? Never!" Blue exclaimed.

Shadow rolled her eyes. "Oh, and, by the way," she said, lowering her voice, "Yellow, don't you have that essay to hand in?"

"Oh, right!" The girl immediately flung open her locker, grabbed the piece of paper and darted down the hallway. "See ya, guys!"

Shadow sighed as she stooped to pick another piece of paper that had fluttered to the floor. "And she forgot the other page." With that, she loped after Yellow, leaving the three older teenagers in the hallway to sort things out for themselves.

"Thanks, Shadow," Yellow said when her friend had finally been able to catch up with her. "Sorry for making you have to come all this way."

"No prob," came the short reply. Yellow turned away in the direction of the staffroom, blonde ponytail swinging, whilst Shadow decided to head back by the way she had come.

She was cutting across the football field when a hand arrested her progress.

"Have you seen the bastard anywhere?"

Shadow took 'the bastard' to mean Gold. "No, not since breakfast."

Crys scowled. "Shacked up with some other girl, I suppose."

Shadow was tempted to respond with a "hardly surprising if that's what you call him" but that would have warranted a punch in the face. And Shadow had had plenty of those already.

Instead she just shook her head and said, "Honestly, I have no idea."

"Hey, Crys."

Both girls swivelled around to face the figure behind them. An older boy, blonde, elegant, clad in purple, was smiling down on them.

"Hi, Eusine," Crys said, leaving Shadow to marvel at her roommate's transformation. The frown disappeared, the blaze of anger in her eyes melted away, and her lips perked upwards into a smile.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine. Except for having to deal with Gold, of course."

Eusine frowned. "Not again?"

"Yes, again," Crys sighed.

"He's not really worth it, you know."

Crys heaved another sigh and folded her arms. "And what can I do?"

Shadow's gaze flickered back and forth between the two speakers as they spent a few moments in silence. _Now in which direction would the conversation go?_

Then the older boy decided to change the topic. "Busy after school?"

"No, not really."

"Good, because I've got to show you the latest results concerning S - " Eusine broke off abruptly when he noticed Shadow standing nearby. "I mean, the mystical creature that we've been trying to track down for so long! It's fascinating, absolutely fascinating."

"Great!" Crys exclaimed. "I should be able to come over by - "

Shadow melted away into the crowd, not wanting to listening to the rest of the conversation. Personally, she felt, while Gold was a notorious flirt, Crys wasn't making things much better, at least not with Eusine. But then, who was going to tell her...

She left the football field and walked past the seemingly endless queue at the tuck shop. She caught sight of Blue and Gold there, heads together, looking awfully close...

Shadow was sure anyone standing on the football field could have seen them. Including Crys.

This was not good...


	3. Chapter 3

(Mum reads fic on my laptop)

Mum: What's this? A story about colors?

Me: Er...kind of. *facepalm*

Anyway, thanks for your lovely reviews and enjoy the third chapter!

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><p>Soon after Yellow and Shadow had left, and Red and Green peeled off to join a few other friends on the comparison of their newest gadgets, a slightly off-put Blue managed to catch Gold at the tuck shop.<p>

"How you're doing, Gold?" Blue said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

The boy shrugged. "Fine. I guess."

"No prob with you and - you and Crys?" Blue swallowed. Now that it was time to say it aloud, she felt strangely reluctant.

Gold glared at her with narrowed eyes. All of sudden, for the first time in her life, Blue felt like backing down.

"I mean - I don't want to seem rude or anything - I just hope you don't mind - but - well..." Blue faltered as Gold advanced, eyes as slits.

"Leave Crys out of this," he said, unusually distinct.

"Sorry."

Gold appeared to relax a little, then shook himself, like he was coming out of a dream. "Sorry," he said. "Been feeling kinda stressed for the while. You know, having to deal with - with her and all."

Blue gave a quiet murmur of sympathy. The boy beside her went on, "Let's talk about something else."

"Much schoolwork?" That was the first thing Blue could think of.

Gold shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really. Spot of trouble with bloody Math again."

"Need help?" Blue offered, feeling a little awkward, not to mention downright furious with herself for feeling so un-eloquent, when she, as the school's leading gossip and chatterbox, had usually so much to say.

"What, you?"

"Hey! I'm not so bad - and I bet I can do better than you!" Blue exclaimed indignantly, playfully punching Gold's arm.

Gold raised an eyebrow. "Oh, reeaally."

"You wanna bet?"

"You'd already made a bet with Red this morning - I heard from Silver. You're sure you wanna - "

"It was just a figure of speech - " But Blue never got to finish her sentence as Gold placed a finger over her mouth.

"To hell with Math," he said softly. "Who cares if I fail all my subjects, if I could have someone as pretty as you to help me out?"

Despite knowing Gold's personality so well, Blue couldn't help blushing. Inside her, a little voice kept nagging her, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. She was conscious of Gold's gaze fixed on her, and his mouth curved into that sly smile that nearly always appeared around a pretty girl.

"Hm? What do you think?" Gold persisted.

Fortunately Blue was saved an answer by the ever-startling Shadow, who had somehow managed to gravitate rather close to them without either of them noticing.

"Interesting to see you two get along," she observed, much like a scientist sizing up two prize specimens.

"What do you want now, pretty face?" Gold asked, half-humoured, half-exasperated.

Shadow scowled at the obvious use - or at least, what she thought to be the obvious use - of irony. While in reality she was nowhere near as hideous as she believed herself to be, there was the matter of a disfiguring scar over her now-sightless right eye. Even though she covered it with her hair for most of the time, there still were some people who would never let her forget it.

"Lesson's about to start soon," she reminded them.

"Spoilsport," Blue teased.

"But at least I stick to what I _should_ stick to," Shadow replied cryptically, throwing a meaningful look to both her friends, before moving away in the direction of the Arts building.

Gold and Blue watched her leave. Very quietly, under his breath, Gold mused, "Wonder what she meant by that."

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><p>"Got any plans for tomorrow? Y'know, Green's going to the dig with his favourite professor - " Red nudged his best friend at that point " - and, well, it should be a lovely Saturday."<p>

"Busy," Blue replied, not taking her eyes off her cheese macaroni.

"With what? And when since you have been that busy?" Red asked, keen with interest. He leaned across the cafeteria table in an attempt to lock eyes with the brunette.

Blue bristled immediately. "You don't have to question me about every little detail of my life, you know!" she snapped.

Red was taken aback. Blue, for all her faults, was usually never so short tempered. And he had no idea how he'd upset her. Shadow was the only one who had any real idea, and she certainly wasn't letting on.

Red was rudely interrupted from his thoughts when Gold suddenly slapped on the back and said, "Hey, dude, you still owe me money."

"How many people do you actually owe cash to, Red?" Blue asked, exchanging a look with Gold.

The teenager in question grinned sheepishly and ignored Blue's enquiry. "Sorry, mate. I'll pay you later - when I get the cash."

"When?"

"Soon," Red responded.

At the same time, Green took the opportunity to ask Silver quietly, "Would you like to go to the excavation site tomorrow?"

The redhead merely shook his head.

"I know you're still feeling sensitive about your father, but - "

"No thanks," Silver cut him off. It was hard enough to have one's father as head professor in one's school, but with a childhood like his...Silver didn't want to think about it. And trying to mend relationships only seemed to make things more painful.

Yellow, meanwhile, was only half-listening to their conversation and had her brow knitted with worry and despair. "Honestly, I don't know how I can please Professor Dragyn. Nothing I do seems right. I might fail History, for all I know."

Green glanced up at the distressed young girl. "He didn't like the essay?"

Yellow sighed. "He said it wasn't good enough."

"And that's bad?" Shadow shook her head in disbelief. "You have absolutely no idea how stingy the Professor is with his praise. Trying to get a comment other than 'needs improvement' is like squeezing gold out of a miser."

"But you aren't taught by him," Green murmured, while Yellow exclaimed, "Well, in any case, it still doesn't make my work good enough! Oh, what am I going to do?"

"It helps to make reference to other books or sources," Shadow said. "Looks like you've done some extra-curricular reading. He likes that."

"How do you know?" Yellow was perplexed.

The raven-haired girl shrugged. "I know. Trust me."

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><p>Saturday morning was uneventful. Yellow noted that her roommate had woken up early - very unusual for her, since Blue was notable for her frequent lie-ins - it meant Yellow could enjoy the morning in peace and quiet, typing softly on her laptop.<p>

It was not quite the same in the case of the boy Yellow often thought of. Red was constantly puzzling over what Blue was up to, not to mention having little to do apart from that, being terribly strapped for cash. Green had left hours before Red even woke; Blue's roommate Yellow had informed him that Blue had also gone out early. And there didn't seem to be anyone else to talk to around - Silver, the poor dark depressed distant boy, hardly talked to anyone at all, and Shadow had inherent inability to converse properly. Neither Gold nor Crys were anywhere to be seen.

Red sighed and tried to think. Where _could_ anyone be?


	4. Chapter 4

Again, much thanks for the reviews. Will try to complete the fic asap though I will be busy in the upcoming few weeks (or month actually) so please be patient.

Not to mention that the bloody computer deleted most of my work so I had to type this from memory. Dang.

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><p>"Surd four x."<p>

"Are you sure?" Gold asked teasingly. "For all I know - "

"D'you want help or not?" Blue responded

"Of course I do. Who'd refuse help from you, Blue?"

"Stop it," Blue giggled.

"What for? I'm just telling the truth."

"Oh, really? How truthful - " Blue broke off abruptly.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said quickly. The unsettling feeling in her stomach, that had been there since yesterday and was slowly rising, now felt as if it was constricting her throat. Quickly, she tried to banish it by focusing on the boy before her.

"Hm. Oh, come on," Gold murmured, and put his arms around her. Blue neither flinched or drew away - even though she'd ought to, Silver thought. But, as always, he was invisible despite being in plain sight in the room, and it seemed like neither of them knew he existed.

The squeak of the door opening made Blue jump and jerk her head. Red put his head around the door and gazed steadily at them. He found slight solace in the fact that Blue at least had the grace to look faintly embarrassed, though Gold looked like he had no intention whatsoever of releasing her.

"Hi," Blue muttered weakly. She wasn't looking at him so much as looking at the door, expectantly, as if she was hoping it would swung shut as soon as possible.

"Hey," Red replied, before retiring and closing the door quietly behind him.

The corridor was deathly silent, everything was deathly silent. Red didn't feel anything apart from a curious apathy as he wandering aimlessly through the dormitory, like a sleepwalker still trapped in a dream.

"Hey, Red."

He lifted his head to greet the speaker. Crys was standing just outside the door which Eusine had closed moments ago with a satisfied grin.

"Have you seen Gold? Where's he?" Crys asked.

Red was well aware of what was going to happen all too soon. Instinct told him to feign ignorance and say he didn't know. He ignored his instinct.

"In his room," he titled his head.

"What's he doing?" Crys sure was persistent.

"I dunno. Maybe Blue would have a better idea," Red replied sourly.

Immediately the mild contentment in Crys' eyes was replaced by wild fury, and she turned on her heel and stalked away down the corridor, leaving Red all alone. He knew there would be an impending disaster, and he knew he could have prevented it, but at the same time he also knew he had caused it. And, worse of all, he didn't feel the least bit sorry about it.

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><p>Shadow started as the door smashed into the wall and fairly fell off its hinges. Crys stormed in, her face a darkened cloud, as she muttered under her breath something about "the bloody bastard" and "how dare he". Shadow could hear plastic clattering and guessed Crys had swiped up her phone. Shadow buried her head into her book and tried not to flinch as Crys exited as loudly as she had entered, slamming the door, and not for the first time did Shadow wonder how on earth did the building stay standing.<p>

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><p>Blue could sense the unsettling feeling grasp her throat again as she watched Red go. She tried to force it down and instead relax in the warm feeling of Gold's arms around her.<p>

But they were interrupted again, and this time the person who had interrupted them was not going to let the sight before her pass.

"What the hell are you doing?" Crys shrieked, loud enough to wake the dead.

Gold immediately let go of Blue and Silver dropped the book he was reading. All three of them stared at Crys, wide-eyed in shock.

"How could you!" Crys shouted, her eyes burning with anger. "Do you have the least bit of loyalty in you? Or do you have to have each and every girl who passes under your nose?"

"And who are you to say that?" Gold snapped, half-irritated and thoroughly embarrassed.

"Who am I? Oh, perhaps you've forgotten, but I'm your girlfriend!"

"Don't play dumb with me! You don't think I don't know about Eusine?"

"That's an entirely different matter!"

As the argument began to escalate, Red silently and swiftly entered the room. He watched as Silver lowered his eyes and curled himself into a ball, legs drawn up to his chest, in a corner of his bed. Blue's gaze was darting nervously back and forth, as if she was trying to escape something.

"So much for counseling, eh? I wonder why we bother," he murmured, half to himself.

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><p>As soon as Crys' footsteps began to die out, Shadow leapt into action. Grabbing her hoodie, she shoved the paperback novel into the pocket and tore out the door. A quick sprint down the corridor brought her outside Yellow's room.<p>

"Hi," Yellow greeted her as she put her head around the door.

"Are you coming or not?"

"What do you mean?"

"Crys has blown her top again. Big trouble. You know what happened a couple of months ago."

Yellow remembered.

"I'll try to pick up Silver afterwards. If we're lucky."

"What about the others?"

Shadow narrowed her eyes darkly. "The others are involved. What I want is to prevent collateral damage, not have Crys chasing after us all over the campus."

Yellow understood the older girl's meaning, and followed immediately.

Poor Silver was nowhere near as fortunate. Crys had barricaded the room and now was conducting a full-blown screaming contest with her boyfriend, and the situation certainly hadn't improved with the presence of Blue and the arrival of Red.

Shadow tugged Yellow away from the scene. "Just go."

"What about Silver?"

"A bit late, isn't it?" Shadow retorted, dragging her worried friend behind her. "We don't want to get involved. Now go!"


	5. Chapter 5

Rather ironically, this was the first bit that I actually wrote...

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><p>"Hang on, this is the teacher's dorm."<p>

"I know."

"Well – " Yellow had an uncomfortable feeling rising in her stomach " – why are we – or are we – oh no, please don't tell me you're going to use a teacher's room as a cover."

"Why not? They're not going to look for us here, let alone find us at all."

"But surely – is it even allowed?"

"Technically, no. But that's kind of beside the point."

"But – well, which teacher are we going to – "

Shadow's answer was to step up and rap her knuckles on the mahogany door.

"Lance?"

Yellow panicked. "Wait! What are you doing? You're supposed to call him – "

Her words were cut off by the faint squeak of the door. "What do you want?"

Yellow found it hard to breathe as the red-headed professor glared at her and Shadow. "Oh. You."

"Can we come in?" Shadow seemed to be totally unfazed. And totally insane.

"No."

Shadow immediately jammed her foot in the path of the closing door. "Please."

"What for?"

Yellow cringed. What would the Professor do if he found out about what Red, Blue, Gold and Crys were up to?

"Let's just say – ah – that we're in a little bit of a fix and, er, we need to bunk down in a quiet place for a while," Shadow said.

"That's not my problem. Your friends, your trouble, you deal with it," Lance replied, and proceeded to close the door on Shadow's foot.

"Please!"

"No. I'm busy. And as the head professor of History I have no obligation to do so."

"Fine then," Shadow said, with a hint of the superior air of a player about to reveal their trump card. "But you still owe me one."

The door stopped a millimeter short of crushing the raven-haired teen's toes.

First came the narrowing of eyes. Then the sigh. A cough. The eye-roll. Then, with weary dignity, Professor Lance Dragyn, MA, PhD, head professor of the History Department and senior professor in the Physics Department, announced, "Come in."

"Thanks," Shadow said.

"And be _very_ quiet, or I'm going to take serious disciplinary action."

"Whatever you say," Shadow shrugged.

The moment the unfortunate owner of the premises had retired to his study, Shadow made a beeline for the fridge. "What do you want to drink? Hey, Yellow! Don't stand there gaping like an idiot. Sit down."

"Am I dreaming?"

"Are you?" Shadow, who had been keeping a straight face for the entire time until now, raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Why, what's wrong? Would you fancy some orange juice?"

"Woah, wait," Yellow whispered, sinking into the nearest chair. "You just got La – Professor Dragyn to let you into his apartment. By calling him by his first name."

"So?"

Yellow didn't quite know what to say or do. Question Shadow? Gawk at her complete lack of sense? Faint because the whole situation was far too surreal? For several seconds she clutched at her head, trying to sort out her confused thoughts, only to be interrupted by Shadow's voice saying, "Seriously, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yellow muttered weakly. "Isn't he going to get mad if you use his stuff?"

"Nah. As long as you clean it up and put it back where it was, he doesn't mind. And even if he does I'll pay for it. Don't worry." Shadow sat opposite to Yellow, having decided on a Coke.

"I can't believe how you convinced him to let us stay in here," Yellow said.

"That bit's easy. All I need to do now is to remember that I can't be asking for any more favours more a while." Shadow leaned back. "So we'd better find another hiding hole the next time Crys blows her top."

"Do you always come here?"

"Not always. I head for town if I can."

Several minutes were spent in near silence, with only occasional quiet sips (courtesy of Shadow) punctuating the air. Yellow let her eyes wander. The apartment wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. Well furnished, neat and immaculate, it had a certain modern, businesslike feel to it. But, Yellow thought, it wasn't really home. Not quite home. If it hadn't been for the few idiosyncratic photographs on top of a cupboard, it really wouldn't have been very much different from a conference room.

Yellow decided to study the photos. Strange, she said to herself, that she'd never really thought of the Professor as having a family. A close family. Sure, there was Miss Clair, but she wasn't close family.

Most of the photos were fairly uninteresting, of people Yellow knew nothing of. What caught her eye was a picture of the Professor and Shadow together, smiling. It must have been the first time in living memory that Yellow had seen him smiling.

"Hey, he's got a picture of you."

"I know. Why tell me?" Shadow tilted her head.

Yellow sighed. Her friend's social ineptitude wasn't helping. "Never mind. I just wonder how the others are getting along."

* * *

><p>The tension was so thick and tight around Silver that he could almost reach out and grasp it. With four friends glaring at each other in what appeared to be a Mexican standoff, he desperately wanted to leave (and there was also the matter of his bladder) but making a single movement would have been deadly.<p>

As far as he was able to figure out, the situation was like this: Crys was giving death glares to Gold and Blue, chiefly because she either suspected or knew (Silver had no idea which) that her boyfriend was cheating on her, and one of those girls he was cheating with was Blue. Gold was swapping his focus from Red to Crys then back again, being that Red _still_ owed him money and that he was fairly uncomfortable with Crys over "something to do with Eusine" (which Gold later told Silver about). Red's gaze flickered back and forth from Gold to Blue, partly on Blue's behalf and to remind himself to pay up, partly to remind Blue herself that he'd won the bet. Blue glared back at Red, including Crys in the glare as Crys'd been the cause of her loss, and also feeling quite embarrassed into the bargain.

In other words, painfully complicated.

Not for the first time that day, or the first time in his life did Silver wish he had taken up Green's offer to go to the dig. Dealing with his father would almost seem like a picnic compared to this.

And they hadn't even started the talking.


	6. Chapter 6

Crys was the first to break the tension.

"I can't believe - well, you _are_ impossible, aren't you? Flirting with every girl in sight without a qualm! And not even with the decency to do it behind my back. If - "

"Well, as if you're all that high and mighty!" Gold interrupted.

"I don't run off with every boy I see!"

"Perhaps not every one. You'd be loyal to the same one you've always been loyal to whenever your boyfriend's not around!"

"Leave him out of this!"

"Why should I?" Gold rounded on her. "Whispering with your heads together about your own little secrets. Poring over some papers for hours and hours. Don't tell me it's nothing!"

Crys did not reply. Instead, she turned to Blue. "Blue, I thought you were my friend! I thought I could _trust_ you!"

Blue stared at the carpet. She wanted to say, "I'm sorry" but her throat got caught and all that came out was a small squeak.

"Don't you have enough already? Why d'you have to pick on my boyfriend? As if Red isn't enough for you!"

"For me?" Blue flared up. "When since - in what universe - when ever have I had Red? You can mock me, can't you, just because you've got someone to cling on to all the time!"

Crys was quick to lash back. "Well, there are hundreds - millions of other male creatures in the world. Why d'you have to steal my boyfriend, eh?"

"Oh, am I now yours to keep?" Gold interjected mockingly.

"There's something called loyalty - "

"There's also something called not exploding at every tiny little thing - "

"Tiny little thing?" Crys hissed, thrusting her face into Gold's. "This - this, you call it a tiny little thing? Blatantly cheating on your girlfriend is just a tiny little thing!"

Gold jerked his head away in irritation and folded his arms. Red glanced over his head and made a signal towards Blue.

"What?" Blue demanded ungraciously.

Red clenched his teeth. "Can we - discuss, shall I say - something in private?"

"She's not going anywhere," Crys objected while Blue snapped, "Oh, to hell with the bet! It's all your fault!"

"My fault?" Red was incredulous.

"Yes, yours!"

"You were the one who suggested the counselling!"

"The what?" Gold and Crys asked simultaneously.

"You were the one proposing the stupid bet!" Blue hissed, ignoring the question.

"I'm not the one flirting with someone else's boyfriend!" Red snapped, letting his temper get the best of him.

Silver watched his four friends continue arguing, getting louder and fiercer with the minute. Gold and Crys had gone back to hollering at each other, and Blue and Red were still sparring. Always fighting - when would it end?

* * *

><p>Shadow checked her watch. "You think it'll be over by now?"<p>

Yellow furrowed her brow. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Oh, who cares," Shadow mumbled, stuffing her book back into her pocket and getting up from the couch.

"What about him?" Yellow gestured in the direction of the study.

Shadow shrugged casually. "Lance! We're going! Thanks for letting us stay."

Yellow's jaw hit the floor as the Professor's only reply was a half-disgruntled, half-exasperated snort.

"Er, yeah, thank you very much," Yellow mumbled as Shadow led her out. She was bursting with questions, yet she didn't quite know how to put them all on the table.

The walk back to their own dormitory commenced in silence. Yellow noticed many other teenagers lounging around, playing sports, chatting, minding their own business. She wondered how many might actually know what had gone - or was still going on - with the four friends at the centre of the fiasco.

* * *

><p>Shadow paused abruptly in the middle of the staircase, and cocked her head, as if listening for something.<p>

"What is it?" Yellow asked.

Shadow bit her lip. "I think they're still fighting."

"Really?" Yellow tried to pick up the noise.

"You'll see," the older girl responded, and let Yellow ascend to the top of the stairs.

Suddenly there was a shout - "Stop!" - and the creak of the door. All the screaming instantly ceased. A small figure darted out of the room.

"Silver," Yellow called.

He raised his clear silver eyes to meet hers, hurt and resentment glinting in those silver depths. "They're always fighting. They never seem to want to stop. It's unbearable," he muttered despondently.

Yellow sighed and gently drew the boy into an embrace. H didn't flinch or pull away, contrary to what both Yellow and Shadow thought he might.

For several heatbeats they just stood there, like that. Then Shadow skirted around them and peeked into the non-silent room where all the noise had originally come from. Four sorry-looking teenagers were glancing wearily around themselves and each other, as if while they all wanted to know what was going on and what would happen next, they were desperate to avoid everyone else's gaze.

"Good afternoon," Shadow greeted, with wan smile.


	7. Chapter 7

"Okay, so what exactly happened?"

Shadow glanced at her watch. "You have plenty of time to kill?"

"Well, not plenty, but I'd still like to know what's going on," Green replied. "One Saturday that I'm not around and now everyone seems to be giving each other death glares."

The girl in front of him shrugged. "There's not much to it, really. You remember the bet on Friday?"

"Yes."

"And of course - this is my guess, of course - Blue went ahead with her 'counselling', or so she calls it. Had a little chat with Gold. No prizes for guessing what Crys thought of _that_."

Green frowned. "Is she _that_ sensitive now?"

Shadow gave another shrug, then leaned forward, "In truth, my guess is - this is just a guess, don't put my name to it - there was more than just a 'chat' going on."

"And then?"

"Well, Crys blew her top, as usual. Don't ask me how Red comes into this, though. Something to do with the bet, maybe. And Yellow and I went to lie low."

Green took a deep breath. "I see."

"And yeah, the rest is history."

"I hope - hi, Silver," Green greeted the redhead as he came to his usual spot in the cafeteria.

Silver gave a quick glance around him. "Still avoiding each other? It's been nearly a week already."

"Well done, Sherlock. Have a seat," Shadow said.

"What about Yellow?"

"Dealing with her favourite professor," Shadow replied shortly.

"She's always kind of busy," Silver observed. "She shouldn't stress herself out."

"She's a perfectionist. Not much that we can do about it," Shadow replied dryly. "By the way, does anyone have any idea about what crap our lovely PE slave-driver was talking about during assembly? - Oh, don't look at me like that, Green. It's perfectly normal for the human mind to filter out outside stimuli that it perceives to be utterly useless."

"You are impossible," Green remarked, with a wan smile.

"Blame me not. Blame our scientists who have studied us for years to understand why we do things like that."

"They certainly didn't study you for long enough."

"Their loss. But what was going on during assembly, anyway?"

Green shrugged. "Upcoming prom. Next week, I think."

"Oh, right. Another night of being bored to tears," Shadow replied lazily.

"You don't even have to dance."

"That's because no one even wants to go with me. Last time we spent three hours unmoving next to the cheesecake and the punch. Remember, Silver?"

"I thought it was the trifle," the redhead replied.

"The trifle and the punch, then. Anyway, who're you're planning to go with, Green?"

"Haven't thought about it," Green said, ducking his head but secretly giving the girl in front of him the quickest and smallest of glances.

Thankfully she didn't seem to notice it. Instead she began to muse to herself, "It'll be interesting to see Red and Blue, or Gold and Crys, go out with someone else other than each other..."

* * *

><p>"Oh, hi." Yellow was surprise to see her roommate as she stepped out of the bathroom. "I thought Thursday evenings are - oh, sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned that."<p>

Blue, lying on her back on her bed covers, folded her arms wearily. "I'm not talking to him anymore. You know that."

Yellow muttered another "sorry" as she began drying her hair. Blue closed her eyes and tried to banish all thoughts about her ex-friend.

For several minutes the room was stifled in an uncomfortable silence. Then Yellow remarked, "You know, I didn't know this until the other day - well, that, Shadow and Professor Dragyn are really close."

"I thought you and him were the close ones," Blue said.

"No, not like that - I mean - " Yellow blushed faintly, "not the student-teacher sort of way. I mean, like, she refers to him by his first name. And he doesn't mind. And - "

"So what d'you think is going on?" Blue interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you think - no, you're too innocent. I won't pollute your mind," Blue said.

"What?"

"Never mind." But Blue was secretly hoping there would be a chance to tackle Shadow and get answer.

* * *

><p>"Who are you going to prom with?"<p>

"Ooh - who do you have in mind?"

"Her? Finally plucked up the courage, eh?"

"I'm completely surprised - I'd no idea you'd go out with someone like him..."

Red ignored his classmates' blissful blabbering and headed swiftly down the corridor clutching his pencil case. Friday after school was never a good time to get caught up in a conversation with a chatterbox. He didn't stop until someone called his name.

"Hey, mate," Gold said as he caught up with Red.

"What do you want?"

"When are you going to return my cash?"

"What, you want it now? Why the hell now?" Red snapped irritably.

"'Cause it might be another two weeks before I get it back," Gold replied. "Man, look, I know you're still upset over that, well, so am I. Plus I lost my girlfriend, so there's no real comparison."

Red was unsympathetic. "There's so many other girls you could go out with. I have confidence in your abilities."

"Oh, come on - it's not like that. You know that."

"Really? I must have been blind then, because, as far as I recall, you flirted with every girl you could find when you were going out with Crys. Or is it that you can only flirt when you've got a girlfriend?"

Gold raised his hand to motion Red to stop. "Listen, that was just all for fun, okay? But it's not the same when Crys isn't around. Even when we were fighting, it was comforting actually having her around. You're going to say this is cliched, but I didn't quite realise it until we broke up. Which is late, I know. But better now than never."

Red bit his lip and thought of Blue. _Better now than never._ But how was he going to tell her? And when?


	8. Chapter 8

Um, guys, Vic will be busy over the next couple of weeks with a debate tournament. Will try to wrap a.s.a.p., sorry!

* * *

><p>"Gosh, is there anyone around here who's got something better to do than talk about prom?" Blue complained, throwing down her lunch tray on the table. "Yes, it's this Friday. Yes, everybody's excited. Yes, they've just got to rub it in that you've got no one to go with!"<p>

"Calm down," Yellow said. "None of us around here have, either."

"But it's not the same for you," Blue huffed. "No offence, but - well, no one expects you to really go to prom. Not with someone else. But me - I'll be the laughing stock!"

"Don't go then. No one's forcing you to," Shadow advised.

Blue rounded on her. "Is that all you can offer? Not going? It's easy to say! But you wouldn't know, would you? At worse you could always go with Professor Dragyn."

Shadow looked up. "Why on earth would I?" She sounded genuinely confused.

"I don't know, maybe it's because you two are so close," Blue retorted.

Shadow smiled. "Damn, do you know any person who goes to prom with their stepsister?"

Blue's jaw dropped. "Hang on - hold on a sec - are you telling me - are you sure? I mean, _you're_ the Professor's stepsister?"

"Well, he's only got one, and I'm pretty sure that's me," Shadow replied.

"You never even mentioned that. Ever. Why not?" Blue was incredulous.

Shadow was apathetic. "What for? And my mother didn't get on with my stepfather, nor with the rest of the family. And I'm kind of like the black sheep, so the family avoids mentioning me most of the time. They don't talk about me, I don't talk about them. Fair enough?"

"And yet you got him to let you stay in his room," Yellow pointed out.

"Lance is okay - for a member of the Dragyn family. I can stand him, and I don't wind him up too much if I can help it. It's Claire's guts I can't put up with," Shadow stated, citing the fiery-tempered Miss Dragyn, who was the cousin of the aforementioned Professor.

"We all share the same sentiment," Blue said.

"So now you know," Shadow said. "I'm not planning to go anyway. Not even for the food."

"How about you?" Blue turned her attention to Yellow.

The young blonde blushed and suddenly became very interested in her lunch.

"Come on - oh, or is there someone you're interested in?" Blue teased.

Yellow shook her head and blushed even deeper.

"Ooh - come on, tell us!" Blue urged.

But all Yellow did was pick up her tray and leave in a hurry, too quick for Blue to stop.

"Darn," the brunette muttered.

"What're you so worried about?"

"Where have you been, Andromeda? I gotta know who's she going with," Blue leaned back and suddenly shivered involuntarily. Good grief, it couldn't be _Red_ that she wanted to go with? Blue tried to banish the thought.

Shadow shrugged. "You'll know by Friday. Anyway, she's not the one I'd be worried about," she said, with a meaningful look at Blue.

* * *

><p>Shadow was lying on her back, holding her paperback in the air, enjoying the rare peace and quiet - precious little thing, peace and quiet, never found at home, and not often at school either. (In honesty, she didn't think that they'd ever had real peace and quiet ever since Crys and Gold began going out.)<p>

All of a sudden the door swept open, brushing a loud trail out on the carpet like wind raking through the Serengeti. Crys stalked in and flopped down on her bed.

Shadow was tempted to ask "A problem?" but she knew she would have a better chance if she kept her mouth shut and waited for Crys to speak for herself.

Crys stayed silent, face down on the bedspread for about a minute. Shadow flipped through her novel without paying attention to the words. Then Crys finally lifted herself off the bed and said, "Shadow, I need your advice."

Had the desire to learn what Crys had to say been less than her common sense - or at least what she thought was common sense - Shadow would have leapt up and retorted sarcastically, "Funny, isn't it? You usually never talk to me." But she resisted the temptation.

"What is it?" she prompted instead.

Crys sighed. "Bloody prom. Don't know who to go with. Gold, maybe, but I don't want to have to go through the trouble of dealing with him. Or maybe Eusine, but you know what he's like. For research, he's fine - in fact, he's wonderful. But not so for anything else."

Shadow muttered under her breath. "Only goodness knows why on earth you'd want to go with Gold."

"What? Why not?" Crys challenged.

Shadow dropped her book. "Well, he's never behaved half-decently to you when you guys were going out. Actually, come to think of it, has he behaved half-decently in his entire life at all?"

"He certainly has!" Crys huffed. "And more than half-decently!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow and threw a glance at her roommate. "Oh, really?"

"Of course!" Crys snapped defensively.

Shadow shook her head. "_Way_ too optimistic."

"Stop being so critical!"

"If you were to go over and ask..." Shadow deliberately trailed off.

"Oh, I will! I'll show you!"

Shadow tried hard to hide her smile as Crys stormed loudly out. Quickly she picked up the fallen novel and began the task of finding the last page she had been reading.

A little while later Yellow put her head around the door. "What was that all about? Why was Crys storming out?"

Shadow sat up, snapped her fingers and laughed. "Nothing, dear. Just a bit of reverse psychology. I'm such a genius."


	9. Chapter 9

Last chappie is up! Hooray!

Thank you all for your lovely comments and contributions, if I can just reply to a few:

- definitely Viridianshipping here (I originally planned it differently, but it's good to have a change)

- Obvious Luckyshipping (lots of hints)

- Even more obvious Mangaquestshipping - only a giraffe in dark glasses wouldn't be able to see it

* * *

><p>"I can't <em>believe<em> Crys got Gold to go with her!" Blue burst out, half-incredulous, half-indignant. "Less than two weeks ago, they were at each other's throats! How the heck do they even get along normally, anyway?"

"So you'd rather them be fighting all the time?" Shadow questioned as she began to gravitate towards the dessert table. As usually, she was at prom alone and couldn't care less. Blue wished she could be as unconcerned as her peculiar friend was.

"That's not what I meant. I mean - well - "

"You're jealous."

Blue tried to change the topic. "Aren't _you_ worried about anything?"

"Not worried, though I can't say I'm jumping for joy at the fact that Lance is dancing with Claire," Shadow replied.

Blue smiled. "Happy families, eh?"

Shadow merely gave a wan smile and shot another death glare at her step-cousin.

"Hey, are you going with anyone?" Blue caught sight of Silver, dressed up in a suit and looking fairly bored.

Silver didn't reply, but instead threw a look at Yellow, who was just coming in, and gave a small, shy dip of his head and held out his hand. Yellow smiled as she took it.

Blue's jaw dropped. "I - I'm amazed! Silver!"

"What?"

"Well, you - her - I'm just speechless at you! I - "

"Keep it that way," Silver said as he led Yellow out onto the dance floor.

Blue just stared.

Shadow commented dryly, "Are you going to be standing there all night with your mouth open?"

"Can't believe it," Blue muttered to herself, her jaw snapping shut.

"You'd better. I'd explain the psychology to you, but I suspect it'd be a waste," Shadow continued.

"Who'd have thought? Silver and Yellow! And to think I didn't notice at all!"

"Well, there you are," Shadow replied. "Oh, hi, Red."

"Hi," Red replied, then, with a glance at Blue, he added more tersely, "Hi."

"Hi," Blue muttered. She threw a tiny but meaningful look at Shadow.

Shadow immediately interpreted the look, and, as always, took matters into her own hands. "Sorry," she said, smiling so brightly it was almost cruel. "I've got to go to the washroom."

Blue felt much like strangling Shadow. She could only fume in silence as Shadow excused herself.

"So," Red began, breaking the tense silence. "How are you enjoying yourself?"

"Fine, just fine," Blue said through gritted teeth, quite sure that she'd chipped the enamel.

"Good," he replied succinctly.

Blue took a deep breath. "I don't know what you're mad about. _I_ lost the bet, _I _should be the one who's angry."

"Sorry then, if that's what you want."

Blue fumed. "You know that's not what I want."

"What then?"

The brunette sighed and looked up into Red's eyes. "I don't know."

"Well, we'll just have to wait till you know, then," Red said, pulling Blue onto the dance floor with him. "We'll have to wait and see."

Shadow smiled as she returned to watch the two dance together, at first slightly awkwardly, but as soon as they got the hang of it they were naturals.

"Busy?" Green asked mysteriously from behind her.

"No," Shadow replied. "And I hope I won't have to be, not for a while."

* * *

><p>~ The End ~<p>

Hope you enjoyed it!


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